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The German companies benefit from increase in recognition of foreign professional qualifications. The Federal Statistical Office reports a 20% increase over the previous year. This is a particularly important signal in times of skills shortages.

You want to foster integration of refugees? Or: You have already received a job application from a refugee and do not know how to evaluate his or her qualification and to determine whether the qualification is appropriate for the employment you are offering. Have a closer look at our compact country overviews, which are now available in English. They will give you a valuable insight into the country of origin of refugees in question and its education system. Our country overviews are available for following countries: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Eritrea.

A delegation with representatives of the Swedish Council for Higher Education visited the BQ-Portal on 1 February in order to get acquainted with the professional recognition in Germany. Since 2017 it is possible in Sweden to have your foreign professional credentials recognized. In Germany this legal right was introduced already in 2012. The Swedish Council for Higher Education is responsible for carrying out recognition procedures in Sweden and already uses the information available in the BQ-Portal in daily work. At the meeting, the Swedish guests learned how to find the information in the BQ-Portal, and found out, how the BQ-Team carries out research on foreign VET systems and professional profiles.

The 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report by UNESCO congratulates Germany for its policies in recognizing migrants and refugees’ prior qualifications and skills. The recognition of foreign professional qualifications increases the probability of immigrant employment by 45 percentage points and the hourly wage by 40%. A million migrants a year visit the website ‘Recognition in Germany’, which offers advice on the recognition procedure in 9 languages. The information on foreign vocational training systems and professional qualifications in the BQ-Portal is accessed annually by over 180,000 website visitors, primarily assessment authorities, companies and experts.

The United Kingdom leaves the European Union at the end of October - possibly without an agreement. What does a No-Deal-Brexit mean for the recognition of foreign qualifications?

The Factsheet Migration, currently published by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, shows trends, facts and figures on the immigration of skilled workers from non-EU countries to Germany.

What is the BQ-Portal about and why is it so important for the professional recognition? Who is responsible for assessing foreign credentials in Germany? In what way does the BQ-Portal assist competent bodies and companies in assessing foreign professional qualifications? How can competent bodies and companies use the BQ-Portal? What information can they find in the BQ-Portal? The new BQ-Portal explainity video answers all these questions.

During a two-day workshop “Migration and Skills: Successful Labour Market Integration through Professional Recognition Systems”, the organisations involved in labour market integration of migrants from six different European countries gained valuable insights into the BQ-Portal project, a European Public Sector Award (EPSA) winner of 2015.

On 11-13 April, the International Government Achievements Exhibition (DIGAE 2016) takes place for the fourth time in Dubai. This year, the conference is held under an overarching theme “Government Innovation, Incubator for Citizens' Happiness”. Local government entities as well as international authorities, institutions and ministries will showcase their innovative programs and effective projects in public administration. DIGAE facilitates an open dialogue on the effectiveness and efficiency of performance in public administration and offers a forum for transfer of public service excellence. DIGAE is designed to demonstrate how effective public governance impacts competitiveness, citizens’ happiness, economic resilience, innovation acceleration, infrastructure roll-out, Cleantech investments, healthcare coverage and tourism attractiveness.